Software security continues to be an increasingly important issue in today's interconnected society. More and more devices are downloading, installing, and utilizing software from both trusted and untrusted locations on the Internet. Each download and installation of software on a device poses a risk to the device or data stored on the device. Numerous solutions presently exist which attempt to protect users from the dangers of malicious software, but often, due in part to the actions of users, software that is generally known to be malicious continues to cause damage to devices and data.
A problem associated with conventional software security solutions is that the solutions can often cause users to fail to appreciate the dangers that can result from downloading and installing malicious software. This can result from the configuration of the user interface, or from the task flow implemented in conjunction with the user interface. Often conventional security solutions involve confusing and unclear inquiries of the user. Users may be overwhelmed by the inquiries or information presented to them with respect to security. In some instances, the differences between an inquiry of the user and a warning are not clear. As a result, in some cases users ignore valid security alerts simply to get past the security solution and download or install the software. If this behavior is continuously repeated, the repetitive nature of the required selections will cause the conventional software security solution to become completely transparent to the user. As such, it is often the case that malicious software is installed on a device with explicit user consent. Likewise, due to the configuration of conventional security solutions, a user may be hesitant to, or may not, download or install software that is known to be safe.
Adding to the confusion, often conventional security solutions involve different client-side applications for each step of the download and installation process. Such architecture can create redundancy in user inquiries, generating additional user confusion. For example, a browser application may be used to locate and select software. A different data transfer application may be used for the downloading of the software, and yet a different installation application may be used to install the software. Due to the segmented architecture of such a complete solution, additional and unnecessary user prompts may be generated at each step of the procedure which can add to a user's confusion and lack of appreciation for the security implications of downloading and installing software.
An exemplary conventional software security solution that may have the aforementioned issues is the software selection, download and installation (SDI) process on many cellular telephones. The SDI process contains a number of steps that may be considered confusing and unclear to some users. As a result, users may ignore valid security issues or refuse to install software from known reputable sources. Further, the SDI process may be considered to involve unnecessary and redundant steps which can contribute to some user's confusion and lack of appreciation for the process.
Thus, conventional software security solutions may either fail to effectively convey to a user the danger posed by malicious software or otherwise enable unsafe security behavior. Further, in some instances, conventional software security solutions leave users confused and unappreciative of the purpose of the solution. As such, a need exists for a software security solution that successfully notifies a user of unsafe software and forces the user to cognitively appreciate the decision to download and install potentially dangerous software to a device.